Liquid-holding paper vessel.



0. F. JENKINS.

LIQUID 301mm PAPER VESSEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1908.

Patented May 4, 1909.

lill;

1 I mnmmm is UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES FRANCIS JENKINS, OF WASHINGTON,DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR,BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO SINGLE SERVICE PACKAGE CORPORATION OF AMERICA,A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LIQUID-HOLDING PAPER VESSEL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES FRANCIS JENKINS, a citizen of th UnitedStates, re-

' per vessels, and the object of my invention -more times.

is to produce a practical vessel of this nature which can be made atsuch a slight cost that it may be thrown away after being used for thefirst time, and thereby enable milk to be sold to the public incontainers thatare absolutely free from contamination.

It is well recognized that a fruitful sourc of disease at the presenttime is found in the unsanitary condition of the present glass milkbottles after they have been used one or Careless or unscrupulouspersons often put these bottles to uses after the milk is taken out ofthe same, which so contaminate them that the processes of cleaning towhich they are afterward subjected, even when such processes areotherwise efficient, fail to thoroughly cleanse them. And theseunsanitary bottles, as well as those that are rendered unsanitary byreason of their contained milk being already contaminated with diseasegerms, go from house to house spreading disease, notwithstanding thefact that the health departments of various citieshave adopted the moststringent measures to prevent such evil.

While the milk container cannot in itself prevent disease germs fromgetting into the milk before it reaches said container; yet, if thevessel holding the milk is one that has not been subjected to anysources of contamination, source of danger is obviated. This may beaccomplished by putting the milk in absolutely ,clean and germ freevessels that have never been "used before; and in order to employ suchvessels they must be made at a cost sufficiently low to enable them tobe thrown away after use. In other words, they must not onl be made ofpaper, but they must be made y a process that will practicallySpecification of Letters Patent. Application filed J'une 18, 1908.Serial No. 489,184.

it is evident that one great.

Patented May 4, 1909.

eliminate the cost of making. One of the essentials of a processsufficiently cheap to be commercially practical, is the making of aspirally wound tube of a uniform diameter, in order that great lengthsof the same may be automatically made at a high speed and suitablesections cut off to form the vessels, or cans, without checking thespeed of the machine. Neither a ta ered tube, nor a cylindrical tube notspira ly wound, could be made at such a speed as to fulfil the exactingconditions of cost involved in this problem.

After the tube is thus made and cut into sections, the most vexatiousproblem to be met is that of efficiently closing the endsof thesections; and yet, still remain within the 11mits of costs, which forthe whole vessel mustbe within a small fraction of a cent, when thevessel is of a moderate size. Furthermore, these closures must be ofsuch a shape that not only may they be applied automatically bymachinery in the shortest time possible, but the bottom closure must bepermanently secured to the tubular body portion, while the top closuremust be liquid tight and easily removable by hand.

The object of m invention, therefore, when more specifica ly stated, isto produce a milk holding. vessel complying with all the above exactingconditions, and to these ends my invention consists in the details,ofconstruction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter disclosedand particularly" pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this secification in which like numerals refer to ike parts in all the views:Fidglure 1, is a pers ective view of a liquid hol 'ng vessel ma e inaccordance with my invention. Fig. 2, an enlarged detail sectional viewof the top closure showing the capillary joint greatly exaggerated. Fig.3, a like View of the bottom closure. Fig. 4, a detail sectional viewthrough the tubular wall of the vessel showing the 'oints between the sirally wound strips an how they are closed and Fig. 5, a detailsectional view of a portion of a strip showin the evil effects resultingfrom allowing the g ue to extend over to the paraffin side of the strip.

1, indicates the vessel proper which is c lindrical and formed fromaninsidespirall wound strip 2, and an outside spirally wound strip 3.The strips break joint, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, when they are woundin continuous lengths; and they are held together by a layer of glue 4,which must be confined strictly to one side of the same, for a reasonthat will appear more fully below.

While the continuous tube is being made, short sections suitable forliquid containing vessels are automatically severed, their bottomclosures 8 inserted, and the open vessel thus formed is dipped intomelted paraffin which coats said vessel inside and out with a layer ofparaffin 5, the same extending into the crevices 6 between contiguousedges of the spirally wound strips, and also into the crevice 7 betweenthe tubular wall and the inserted bottom. Now paraffin, as is wellknown, is chemically inert to all food products and is therefore theonly inexpensive substance available for lining paper milk bottles. Butit is, also, a glue repellent; and if any glue extends over to theparaflin side of the strip, as at 9, in Fig. 5, the paraffin will notattach itself to the paper, nor will it fix itself to the glue; but itwill form a sort of blister in the coating 5, which blister willultimately break, peel off, and leave a surface of the pa er exposed tothe penetration of the liqui and thereupon result in the de struction ofthe vessel. It is therefore essential in the ra id and automatic coatingof the strips with g ue on one side, that absolutely no glue reach tothe other side of said strips; and it is likewise essentialgthatadipping process be employed in order'that every portion of the pa er notcovered by the glue may be reaohe bythe paraffin, and the liquidtherefore prevented from finding a place for penetrating the vesselswalls.

After the open ended vessel having absolutely no glueon'its surface hasbeen dipped in hot araffin, and all its ex osed parts thoroug ly coated,it is essential that an inexpensive and thoroughly efiicient closure beprovided; and one that may be readily removed and put back into place.This problem is of the most exacting nature, since a pint of liquidweighs say one pound, and the blow delivered against such closure whenthe vessel is overturned is often considerable. The mere ordinaryfriction'of an ordinary closure against a parafiined tubular surface ifmade great enou h to stand the strains required, would invo ve such atight fit between the. parts that the paper can could not be madeaccurate enou h; nor could the closure be inserted and ta en out v withsufficient readiness to make the same practical in daily use. On theother hand, if an ordinary closure be made sufficiently loose to permitan easy opening and closing of the can, then the ordinary friction wouldbe quite insufficient to stand the strains of daily use.

After many laborious and costly experiments, I have discovered that if aparaflined paper closure 11 be fitted with a looseness just enough topermit the ready insertion and withdrawal of said closure, that acapillary film 12 will form between the walls of the closure and can,and hold the closure so tight that the can when full of milk maybe quiteroughly handled, turned upside down and thrown about without (lisp acingsaid closure; and that the can may be also readily opened at any time bymerely pulling on the ears 13 attached to the closure 11. As is wellknown, the force of capillary attraction is very great, and therefore itwill be seen by bringing this force to my aid, I am enabled to raise theholding power of the closure to the degree desired, and at the same timeto render the can easy 'to open. That this holding power is not due to avacuum formed, or air pressure from the outside,

may be readily demonstrated by puncturing the closure 11 with a pin,when it will be found to hold as before. In roducing this closure,however, there are stlll problems to solve. If ordinary .dry paper bestruck up in a die to form the cup, it will break; if wet or damp stockbe employed the operation will tear the same; and furthermore, sincepaper does not stretch like sheet metal, it is next to impossible togive such paper the necessary permanent set. My experiments, however,taught me that paraffin seemed to permit the particles of paper to slideover each other under the action of the die, thereby preventing thespreading or tearing of the paper, and at the same timegiving it apermanent set. tained unless the paper is parafiined before placing itin the die. Furthermore, while the closure should be flexible in orderto accommodate itself to the flexible walls of the can need stiffening.in order to secure strength at those points. I secure these results bymaking the inverted cu 11 out of paper of about four times the thicknessof the paper of the can walls. The above remarks apply also to the lowercup closure 8. Lastly, the ears 13, receive quite a strain in removingthe closure, and therefore should. be as strong as possible. By emloying araffined paper 1n the dies, the her of these ears is not brokenwhere they join the rim of the cup, and by permitting them to extend inprolongation of said rim, instead of at an angle This result could notbe atcan; yet, at the same time, the ends of tlie thereto, any breakingof the fiber is again avoided, so that in actual practice extending overmany thousands of instances no difficulty was experienced inhaving-these ears break ofi.

I am well aware that paper vessels very similar in outward appearanceand in general structure to mine have long been known, and to thefeatures of such vessels I lay no claim.

'But, at the same time, actual trial proves that not onof the vessels.heretofore -pro posed can comply with all the; exacting conanion forbottles above; enumerated,.;- -while I have ut into actualractical'use;6 probably five undred thousan of my ves- Jsels, with the mostsatisfactory results. In fact, it was only after the practical use-.ofsome, thousands of these vessels that I was enabled tosearch out andremedy the causes I of the failures of thoseflvessels thathad" one.before..' It was found that such fa" ur'es have not been due to an onesingle cause, but to the omission to o serve and to'provide the numerousminor features above distclosed. Accordin ly, although it is possible.to make my vessdls by hand, I make them entirely and automatically bymachinery.

The tubes :gre made of a cylindrical shape to attain spee means areprovided to prevent the glue from getting on the parafiin sideofthepapar strips; the. short sections are sev- 1 ered w 'le the tube isstill being formed and without changing the speed; the closures are ofsuch a material thatthey can be automatically stamped out at a highrate'of speed without injury to the material, and are of such a shapethat theycan be inserted readily into the tubular sections by machinery;the cans are automatically dipped and stood upright on'end afterdrainingso that the paraffi'n maysettle in the crevices 7; and finallyfthe removable top closure is so designed that while it may be made at atrifling cost", it is easy to remove and it Holds tenaciously under'-all conditions.

What I claim is 1. A paper 'vessel adapted to contain liquids,comprising a cylindrical bodyportion composed entirely of 'spirallywound strips; 40 a bottom closure composed entirely-of paraf- (finedpaper having an inverted cup shape, the flanges of the cup being aplurality of times thicker than the walls of the vessel and closelyfitting the interior of said vessel; a

5 top closure also having an inverted cup shape, composed of parafiinedpaper, a plurality of times thicker than the walls of; the vessel, glandslidingly fitted to said vessel leaving'suflicient space for said liquidto -form a capillary film between its flanges and the walls of sa1dvessel and a layer of par- .scribed. 1

afiin coveringthe exposed surfaces of said. 7 vessel; substantiallyasdescribed,

. 2. A'pa'per vesselada ted to conta in i -f .1 j

fuids,co1 nprising a spira y woundcylindrical tubular body:portiorihaving glue between;

the meeting surfacesof thespirals and destitute ofglueon-the othersurfaces; a bottom closure, and a top closure, each of said clo- Isuresconsisting entirely'of' araffined?paper-' a plurality of times thicker tan thewalls'of said vessel, provided'with u turned flanges having apermanent set, fitting the interior of'said'vessel, said bottom closurebeing permanentl secured'in said vessel, and said top .65 closure ing'slidingly fitted to said vessel with suflicient looseness topermit saidliq- .uids' to form a capillary film between the same and the interiorwalls of said vessel;

and-a layer of 'parafiin covering said'bottom closure and all parts ofsaid spirals'not covered by said glue, substantially as described.

3. A paper vessel adapted to contain milk, comprismg a cylindricaltubular body consisting entirely 01 a plurality of stri s of paper woundto break oints with each (ilzher, and to form said body, one ofsaidstrips being coated on one side with glue, and adapted to contact with asurface of the other strip,- while the outer surfaces of said strips aredestitute of glue; a bottom closure tightly fitting said body having aflanged inverted cup sha e, and composed of a paraflined' paper 0substantially four times the thickness of each of said strips; a topclosure of like material, shape, and thickness, provided with earsextending in prolongation of the flanges of the cup, said top closurebeing sulficiently small to leave a capillary space between said flangesand the interior of said vesselin which a thin film of said milk maylodge; and a layer. of paraflin covering said bottom and all surfaces ofsaid strips not covered by said glue, substantially asde- In testimonywhereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES FRANCIS JENKINS.

